Mindanao is the southernmost of the three islands and island groups that comprise the Philippine archipelago. It has a total land area of 104,630 square kilometres with 21,968,174 inhabitants, or 24 per cent of the country’s total population, based on 2015 figures.
It is comprised of 34 provinces and is home to five of the country’s 13 regions.
Davao City is the most populous of the cities in Mindanao with 1,632,991 residents.
Bisaya, which is a dialect with largely Cebuano and some Hiligaynon words, is widely spoken in Mindanao as well as Chavacano, Maguindanao, Maranao and Tagalog among others.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has an average annual population growth rate of 2.89 per cent which is higher than the national average.
Muslims comprise around a quarter of the Philippines’ 100 million population and most of them are in the ARMM. Basilan (except Isabela City), Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the Islamic City of Marawi comprise the ARMM.
Among the three main islands, Mindanao is regarded as having the warmest temperature with an average of 29 Celsius during summer months.
Mindanao is home to three sultanates: Maguindanao, Maranao and Sulu.
Ethnic lumad or ethnic tribal groupings comprise a sizeable portion of the population.
